Lithuania FDI skyrockets in 2017

Lithuania enjoyed a record year for FDI in 2017, with capital city Vilnius the focus for much of the investments.

FDI into Lithuania spiked in 2017, reaching its highest ever recorded number of greenfield investment projects. The influx of FDI has been progressively increasing, with a 17.07% increase of project numbers between 2012 and 2016.

However, FDI into the country in 2017 welcomed a notable surge with 61 recorded projects, a 27.08% increase from 2016. In accordance with the rise of FDI, there were 8949 new jobs created in 2017. Equally, capital expenditure increased to $1.26bn in 2017, yet remains shy of the $7.21bn recorded in 2011.

Software and IT services lead

The US was the leading source country in 2017, with 15 projects into Lithuania, accounting for 24.59% of total FDI. Next up are Germany and the UK, each representing 11.48% of total project numbers. Notably, Germany leads on total jobs and capital expenditure, assuming a share of 28.98% and 20.68% respectively.

The key industry sectors for investors in 2017 were software and IT services, transportation and financial services. Software and IT services claimed 22.95% of total FDI into Lithuania in 2017, creating a total of 1437 new jobs.

The IT sector has been predominate in Lithuania, with 26.32% of projects between 2012 and 2017 falling into this sector. Transportation also prevailed in 2017 with project numbers increasing from three to eight from the previous year.

Vilnius as centre of investment

In 2017, Vilnius led the way as a destination city, welcoming 52.46% of total FDI into Lithuania. Similarly, 55.11% of total jobs were created in the capital. Of the 24 of 29 projects which cited motives for FDI into Lithuania in 2017, an overwhelming 82.7% attributed skilled workforce availability as the motive for investment.

As a destination country, Lithuania ranks eighth for emerging European investment between 2012 and 2017, with 3.64% of total projects. Vilnius ranked sixth for destination city in emerging Europe across the same time period, but came in fourth highest for project numbers in 2017, spearheading investment into the country.

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